1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a vehicle-mounted equipment which is remotely controlled from the outside of the vehicle, an information unit which remotely controls the vehicle-mounted equipment, and a vehicle-mounted information system which is configured by the vehicle-mounted equipment and the information unit.
2. Description of Related Art
As vehicle-mounted equipment there have appeared a car navigation system, a car audio system, or the like, which are mounted on a passenger vehicle. Also, as an information unit there are appeared a personal digital assistant (PDA), a personal computer, a cellular phone, or the like.
The conventional car navigation system forces a user to input data on destination and driving routes inside the vehicle before starting the driving. This work takes a lot of time, and thus the user experiences inconvenience in that the vehicle cannot be started immediately for the destination, even if the user has got onboard the vehicle.
In order to remove this inconvenience, the Inter Navi System (registered trademark) has been devised in which the position coordinates (latitude and longitude) of the destination are searched by a server connected to the Internet or a personal computer owned by an individual and the position coordinates of the destination are set to the car navigation system.
That is, in the Inter Navi System (registered trademark) the Inter Navi Server connected to the Internet makes a search for the destination upon receipt of an access from the user s personal computer. The position coordinates of the destination, which are the result of search, are then stored in a place called My cabin in the Inter Navi Server.
Thereafter, the user gets the position coordinates of the destination stored in the My cabin in the Internet server by a cellular phone connected to the car navigation system. The position coordinates of the destination are set in the car navigation system.
Once the position coordinates of the destination are set, the car navigation system makes a route search from the current position to the destination in order to do navigation at the time of running of the vehicle.
The conventional vehicle-mounted information system thus arranged enables the user to set the destination before the user gets onboard the vehicle. If, as a result of route search from the current position to the destination, the route in question does not meet the user's wishes, the user must set, inside the vehicle, the position(s) which the user passes through so as to search again for the route. It follows that, even if the user has got onboard the vehicle, the user cannot immediately start for the destination.
In addition, the screens displayed inside the vehicle when the user set positions through which the vehicle will pass may be significantly different from those displayed when the user sets the destination using a personal computer. Therefore, the user has a feeling of physical disorder in setting the position(s) which the user passes through.
Aside from the above-described prior art, the following vehicle-mounted information system is also disclosed in Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application No. Hei 11-325944.
Namely, a navigation unit with capabilities similar to those of the vehicle-mounted navigation system is separately provided. Before the user gets onboard a vehicle, the navigation unit is operated to set the destination and then the destination is stored in a remote controller.
Thereafter, the destination stored in the remote controller is transferred to the navigation system mounted on the vehicle, which sets the destination.
This conventional system enables the user to set the destination before the user gets onboard the vehicle. However, it is necessary to separately provide another navigation unit with capabilities similar to those of the navigation system mounted on the vehicle. Thus, the cost tends to become high.